[Elecraft] KX3 Battery Holder Melted

[Tighe Kuykendall]

I use the internal charger in my KX3 to keep some NiMH batteries 
charged.  I take them out occasionally, but not very often as they see 
very little use since I almost always use an external battery.  I'm 
careful not to overcharge by running the charger for short periods and 
keeping an eye on battery voltage.  I pulled them last night to run the 
batteries on a more sophisticated charger to check each cell as I'm 
heading out tomorrow for a week long camping trip.  No indication of 
problems with any cell.

When I started to reinsert the cells this morning I noticed the spring 
end of one cell slot had melted plastic in the spring and the spring is 
pushed through the end of the holder almost touching the large cap on 
the filter board.  I almost certainly have a bad cell, now to figure out 
which one.

Learn from my mistake, pull the batteries regularly and check them along 
with the holder if you're using the internal charger.

Now off to the rat shack (I still have one of the independent stores 
here) to search for a suitable replacement.

Tighe
NK4I